Tony Turnbull of the Times very much enjoys his time at Mr Hanbury’s Mason Arms in Witney, Oxfordshire, which has recently been taken over by Artist Residence.

It’s certainly more welcoming than it was in its previous incarnation, as Gerry Stonhill’s Individual Mason Arms. “We don’t like children, mobile telephones or media restaurant critics. We do like our guests to arrive by Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti, Ferrari, in a Helicopter or on an MV Agusta,” the cigar-toting owner wrote on his website.

Flavour Bastard, London W1: “There’s me thinking Sexy Fish was as bad as it got” says Marina O’Loughlin of the Guardian.

The name? Brace yourselves: it’s Flavour Bastard. Roll that around your tongue: flaaavour baaastaard. And there’s me thinking Sexy Fish was as bad as it got.

Here’s the “remove rules and traditions” (their words) bastardry in full flow: South Indian-style white lentil vada (“doughnuts”) with Spanish chorizo and Italian pecorino. Oh, the wackiness: fan me, for I fear an attack of the vapours. Is it an improvement on conventional medu vada? Stodgy and salty and sickly, it is not. Or this bobby dazzler: roast sweet potato (served cold), glooped with fennel-flavoured yoghurt, sunflower seeds, a lot of coriander and quantities of damp chillied popcorn – a kind of mutant chaat that’s saying nothing of any interest.